Multiple-serpentine-tread tire.



F..W. KREMER. MULTIPLE SERPENTINE TREAD TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.- 23, 1914- Patented Oct 17,1916v 7 anlu,

%- in. M

TED STATES PATENT OF 1O FRANKLIN W. KREMEB, OF' CARLSTADT, NEW JERSEY.

MULTIPLESERPENTINE-TREAD TIRE. r,

To all whom it may concern k Be it known that I, FRANKLIN W. KRE- iunm acitizen of the United States, residing at Central avenue, Carlstadt, NewJercessive portions thereof come-into contact with the ground; wherebyundue thickening or bulging of the tire in any part ls prevented.

The above and other objects and advan tages of my invention will appearfrom the 7 following specification taken 1n connection with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate a-preferred form of my invention.

On said drawings Figure 1 isa plan of.

a portion of my improved tire and Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 ofFig; 1.

In the particular description of the drawingsfI employ the same numeralsto indicate the same parts throughout the several views.

My improved tire comprises the usual outer casing 1, incloslng an innerinflatable tube orcasing 2 and having its outer face thickened to forma: tread 3. The inner edges of the casing 1 are formed to providerounded flanges 4 and grooves 5, adapted to be engaged by rings 6,to'secure the tire to the circumference. of a wheel. These rings havetheir outer edges inturned to enter the grooves 5 and are formed so thattheir inner faces correspond in shape to the flanges 4 and form a snugfit over the same. The rings 6 are mounted upon a band 7,

carried on the rim of a wheel 8, and having along one edge a flange 9which holds one of the rings 6; the other ring being engaged and held bymeans of the flange 10 of a key 11 which fits into a groove 12 in theband 7. It is immaterial how the tire is secured tothe wheel, as thereare numerous constructions for-this purpose; and the device shown inFig. 2 for holding the tire and the wheel together are intended asillus- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct; 17, 1916.

lpplication filed November 23, 1914. Serial No. 873,461.

13 spaced from each other and extending entirely around the casing 1.These ribs do not follow a straight line, but are serpentine in shape;that is, they extend around the casing 1n zlg-zag fashion. I may use asmany of these r1bs as necessary or preferable, but I show three in thedrawings, and

they areseparatedby the grooves 14:. The grooves 14 are preferably ofuniform Width and are parallel to each other; and the edges of the ribs13, which are substantially flat, and likewise of preferably uniformwidth, are also parallel to the edges of the grooves 14:. Each of theribs 13 thuscomprises a number of projections 15 and a number ofrecesses 16; and it also comprises .sections or portions 17 extendingacross the tire transversely of diagonally in one direction, alternatingwith sections or portions 18, extending diagonally or transverselyacross the tire in the opposite direction. Each of the zigzag sectionsor portions of the ribs strengthens and reinforces-the adjacentsections; thus enabling the ribs to bear the load advantageously when itcomes upon the successive portions or sections thereof; and theprojections 15 act as buttresss to prevent curling or warping of theribs; while the recesses 16 provide room for the expansion or flatteningof the ribs when thejweightof the load presses upon them. v f i Thisconstruction of tread also prevents any tendency of the vehicle to swayfrom side to side, because the edges of the ribs ground, and is movingto the right, it will be plain that the edge 19 of any section 17 of themiddle rib 13 will tend to move or.

sway the wheel in one direction; while the edge 20 of the adjacentsection 18 will tend to move the wheel in the opposite direction. Thesame efl'ect will be produced by the edges of the outer ribs 13; and asa result, lateral thrust on the wheel will be eliminat'ed. Hence thefull benefit of the antiskidding effect .due to the serpentine contourof the ribs' 13 is attained without deflection of the wheel; in otherwords, the

,- ribs 13 constitute a tread comprising anumher of continuousprojections, formed totread, due to the weight of the load, willbeevenly distributed overthe entire width of the tread 3. If, the tread3 were not made up of ribs separated by grooves, the load would not beuniformly distributed, but would compress the rubber or other materialof which the tire is made to the greatest extent in the middle. Theeffect of this would be to cause bulging of the tire along the sidesthereof, as each portion comes into contact with the ground; and thecasing 1 would soon become. greatly weakened. WVith my improved tread,no such bulging on thesides of that part of the casing 1 which is, incontact with the ground, is produced, and thisresult is due to the factthat the difi'erent ribs 13 are compressed independently of one another,and the material of which they are made, spreads out laterally in such away as to tend to squeeze the sides of the grooves 14 together. vTheflattening or expanding of the face of the tread is therefore uniformlydistributed over the entire width of the tread; and I not only attaingreater efliciency in operation, but I am also able to make the treadlast longer in practice.

Another important advantage due to the fining of 'the distorting effectof the load on the tread to thatpart of the tread which bears it.'. Ifthe ribs were straight, this efbehind the part of the tread carryingthev fect at each point touching the ground would be cumulative,extending, along the tread, and producing thickening and bulging acrossthe tread directly in front of and weight of the vehicle to which theWheel is attached. But with the serpentine ribs, when any diagonalsection is flattened out, that section expands not only across, butlengthwise also; and in both directions along its length. Hence theexpansion of each diagonal section meets and opposes at its ends theexpansion of the two adjacent sections, and the expanding and flatteningof the tread is thus localized. As a result, the ribs spread sidewisemostly, into the grooves 14, and no bulging can take place across thetread, either as the tread touches the ground or as it leaves the same.

Of course, the flanges at may be hollow, if desired,and filled with anysuitable stiffening cement or other substance indicated at '17, for theembedding of reinforcing wires, as may be readily understood. Likewise,the serpentine ribs may be applied to a solid rubber tire, if desired.

I do not of course, wish to be restricted to the exact details ofconstruction herein described, but on the contrary, I desire to reservethe right to make such changes as come within the scope of the claimappended hereto.

\Vh'at is claimed as new is:

A multiple serpentine tireshoe comprising a body and a thickenedtreadconsisting of a plurality of parallel continuous, unbroken zi -zag ribsof uniform cross-section throughout, said ribs being defined andseparated by grooves relatively U-shaped in 7 other granular materialbetween the ribs. serpentine shape of the ribs 13 is the contwosubscribing witnesses, this 25th day of August, 1914.

FRANKLIN W. KREMER.

lVitnes'ses: I

VIII-LIAM F. NICKEL, H. BIRNBAGH.

